BASE (bases)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Base mean? 

• BASE (noun)
  The noun BASE has 20 senses:

1. installation from which a military force initiates operations

2. lowest support of a structure

3. a place that the runner must touch before scoring

4. the bottom or lowest part

5. (anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment

6. a lower limit

7. the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained

8. a support or foundation

9. a phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA)

10. any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water

11. the bottom side of a geometric figure from which the altitude can be constructed

12. the most important or necessary part of something

13. (numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place

14. the place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end

15. a terrorist network intensely opposed to the United States that dispenses money and logistical support and training to a wide variety of radical Islamic terrorist groups; has cells in more than 50 countries

16. (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed

17. the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area

18. the principal ingredient of a mixture

19. a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit

20. (electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector

  Familiarity information: BASE used as a noun is very familiar.

• BASE (adjective)
  The adjective BASE has 7 senses:

1. serving as or forming a base

2. of low birth or station ('base' is archaic in this sense)

3. (used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal

4. not adhering to ethical or moral principles

5. having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality

6. illegitimate

7. debased; not genuine

  Familiarity information: BASE used as an adjective is common.

• BASE (verb)
  The verb BASE has 3 senses:

1. use as a basis for; found on

2. situate as a center of operations

3. use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes

  Familiarity information: BASE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BASE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Installation from which a military force initiates operations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

base; base of operations

Context example:

the attack wiped out our forward bases

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

military installation (any facility servicing military forces)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

firebase (an artillery base to support advancing troops)

rocket base (a military base for rocket missiles)

navy base (base of operations for a naval fleet)

army base (a large base of operations for an army)

air base; air station (a base for military aircraft)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lowest support of a structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure

Context example:

he stood at the foot of the tower

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

support (supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

bed (a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track)

mat; raft; raft foundation (a foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of reinforced concrete)

Holonyms ("base" is a part of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Derivation:

basal (serving as or forming a base)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A place that the runner must touch before scoring

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bag; base

Context example:

he scrambled to get back to the bag

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

baseball equipment (equipment used in playing baseball)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

first base (the base that must be touched first by a base runner in baseball)

home; home base; home plate; plate ((baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score)

second base (the base that must be touched second by a base runner in baseball)

third; third base (the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball)

Holonyms ("base" is a part of...):

baseball diamond; diamond; infield (the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The bottom or lowest part

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

the base of the mountain

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

part; piece (a portion of a natural object)

Derivation:

basilar (of or relating to or located at the base)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(anatomy) the part of an organ nearest its point of attachment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

the base of the skull

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

bottom (the lowest part of anything)

Domain category:

anatomy; general anatomy (the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals)

Derivation:

basal (especially of leaves; located at the base of a plant or stem; especially arising directly from the root or rootstock or a root-like stem)

basilary (of or relating to or located at the base)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A lower limit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

base; floor

Context example:

the government established a wage floor

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

control (the economic policy of controlling or limiting or curbing prices or wages etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

price floor (floor below which prices are not allowed to fall)

wage floor (floor below which wages are not allowed to fall)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

base; basis; cornerstone; foundation; fundament; groundwork

Context example:

the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

assumption; supposal; supposition (a hypothesis that is taken for granted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

meat and potatoes (the fundamental part)

Holonyms ("base" is a part of...):

explanation (thought that makes something comprehensible)

Derivation:

basal (serving as or forming a base)

base (use as a basis for; found on)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A support or foundation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

base; pedestal; stand

Context example:

the base of the lamp

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

support (any device that bears the weight of another thing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

staddle (a base or platform on which hay or corn is stacked)

brass monkey (a metal stand that formerly held cannon balls on sailing ships)

trivet (a three-legged metal stand for supporting a cooking vessel in a hearth)

trivet (a stand with short feet used under a hot dish on a table)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A phosphoric ester of a nucleoside; the basic structural unit of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

base; nucleotide

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

ester (organic compound formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

adenosine diphosphate; ADP (an ester of adenosine that is converted to ATP for energy storage)

U; uracil (a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine)

oligo; oligonucleotide ((biochemistry) a polynucleotide whose molecules contain relatively few nucleotides)

polynucleotide ((biochemistry) a linear polymer whose molecule is composed of many nucleotide units constituting a section of a nucleic acid molecule)

muton (the smallest unit of DNA where a mutation can occur)

deoxythymidine monophosphate; T; deoxyguanosine monophosphate; G; C; deoxycytidine monophosphate; A; deoxyadenosine monophosphate (one of the four nucleotides used in building DNA; all four nucleotides have a common phosphate group and a sugar (ribose))

adenosine triphosphate; ATP (a nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue; the major source of energy for cellular reactions)

adenosine monophosphate; adenylic acid; AMP (a nucleotide found in muscle cells and important in metabolism; reversibly convertible to ADP and ATP)

base pair (one of the pairs of chemical bases joined by hydrogen bonds that connect the complementary strands of a DNA molecule or of an RNA molecule that has two strands; the base pairs are adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine in DNA and adenine with uracil and guanine with cytosine in RNA)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

alkali; base

Context example:

bases include oxides and hydroxides of metals and ammonia

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

chemical compound; compound ((chemistry) a substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "base"):

pyridine (a toxic colorless flammable liquid organic base with a disagreeable odor; usually derived from coal)

purine (a colorless crystalline organic base containing nitrogen; the parent compound of various biologically important substances)

purine (any of several bases that are derivatives of purine)

glyoxaline; imidazole; iminazole (an organic base C3H4N2; a histamine inhibitor)

cyanuramide; melamine (a white crystalline organic base; used mainly in making melamine resins)

pyrimidine (any of several basic compounds derived from pyrimidine)

Derivation:

base (use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes)

basify (turn basic and less acidic)

Sense 11

Meaning:

The bottom side of a geometric figure from which the altitude can be constructed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Context example:

the base of the triangle

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

flank (a subfigure consisting of a side of something)

Sense 12

Meaning:

The most important or necessary part of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

base; basis

Context example:

the basis of this drink is orange juice

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

component; component part; constituent; part; portion (something determined in relation to something that includes it)

Sense 13

Meaning:

(numeration system) the positive integer that is equivalent to one in the next higher counting place

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

base; radix

Context example:

10 is the radix of the decimal system

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

number (a concept of quantity involving zero and units)

Domain category:

number representation system; number system; numeration system; system of numeration (any notation for the representation of numbers)

Sense 14

Meaning:

The place where you are stationed and from which missions start and end

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

base; home

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

location (a point or extent in space)

Sense 15

Meaning:

A terrorist network intensely opposed to the United States that dispenses money and logistical support and training to a wide variety of radical Islamic terrorist groups; has cells in more than 50 countries

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

al-Qa'ida; al-Qaeda; al-Qaida; al Qaeda; al Qaida; Base; Qaeda

Instance hypernyms:

foreign terrorist organization; FTO; terrorist group; terrorist organization (a political movement that uses terror as a weapon to achieve its goals)

Domain category:

act of terrorism; terrorism; terrorist act (the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)

Domain region:

Afghanistan; Islamic State of Afghanistan (a mountainous landlocked country in central Asia; bordered by Iran to the west and Russia to the north and Pakistan to the east and south)

Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Pakistan; West Pakistan (a Muslim republic that occupies the heartland of ancient south Asian civilization in the Indus River valley; formerly part of India; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947)

Sense 16

Meaning:

(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

base; radical; root; root word; stem; theme

Context example:

thematic vowels are part of the stem

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

descriptor; form; signifier; word form (the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something)

Domain category:

linguistics (the scientific study of language)

Sense 17

Meaning:

The stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

base; infrastructure

Context example:

the industrial base of Japan

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

fund; stock; store (a supply of something available for future use)

Meronyms (parts of "base"):

public works (structures (such as highways or schools or bridges or docks) constructed at government expense for public use)

water; water supply; water system (a facility that provides a source of water)

transit; transportation; transportation system (a facility consisting of the means and equipment necessary for the movement of passengers or goods)

sewage system; sewage works; sewer system (facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage)

school system (establishment including the plant and equipment for providing education from kindergarten through high school)

grid; power grid; power system (a system of high tension cables by which electrical power is distributed throughout a region)

penal facility; penal institution (an institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public)

main (a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage)

gas system (facility (plant and equipment) for providing natural-gas service)

fire station; firehouse (a station housing fire apparatus and firemen)

communication equipment; communication system (facility consisting of the physical plants and equipment for disseminating information)

Sense 18

Meaning:

The principal ingredient of a mixture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

everything she cooked seemed to have rice as the base

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

ingredient (a component of a mixture or compound)

Derivation:

base (use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes)

Sense 19

Meaning:

A flat bottom on which something is intended to sit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

a tub should sit on its own base

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

bottom; underside; undersurface (the lower side of anything)

Holonyms ("base" is a part of...):

box (a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid)

lamp (a piece of furniture holding one or more electric light bulbs)

vessel (an object used as a container (especially for liquids))

Sense 20

Meaning:

(electronics) the part of a transistor that separates the emitter from the collector

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("base" is a kind of...):

electrode (a conductor used to make electrical contact with some part of a circuit)

Domain category:

electronics (the branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices)

Holonyms ("base" is a part of...):

electronic transistor; junction transistor; transistor (a semiconductor device capable of amplification)

• BASE (adjective)

Declension: comparative and superlative

Sense 1

Meaning:

Serving as or forming a base

Synonyms:

basal; base

Context example:

the painter applied a base coat followed by two finishing coats

Similar:

basic (pertaining to or constituting a base or basis)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of low birth or station ('base' is archaic in this sense)

Synonyms:

base; baseborn; humble; lowly

Context example:

of humble (or lowly) birth

Similar:

lowborn (of humble birth or origins)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(used of metals) consisting of or alloyed with inferior metal

Context example:

a base metal

Similar:

inferior (of low or inferior quality)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Not adhering to ethical or moral principles

Synonyms:

base; immoral

Context example:

unethical practices in handling public funds

Similar:

wrong (contrary to conscience or morality or law)

Derivation:

baseness (unworthiness by virtue of lacking higher values)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality

Synonyms:

base; mean; meanspirited

Context example:

something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics

Similar:

ignoble (completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose)

Derivation:

baseness (unworthiness by virtue of lacking higher values)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Illegitimate

Synonyms:

base; baseborn

Similar:

illegitimate (of marriages and offspring; not recognized as lawful)

Domain usage:

archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Debased; not genuine

Context example:

an attempt to eliminate the base coinage

Similar:

counterfeit; imitative (not genuine; imitating something superior)

• BASE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Use as a basis for; found on

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

base; establish; found; ground

Context example:

base a claim on some observation

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "base"):

build (found or ground)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

base (the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Situate as a center of operations

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

we will base this project in the new lab

Hypernyms (to "base" is one way to...):

locate; situate (determine or indicate the place, site, or limits of, as if by an instrument or by a survey)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Use (purified cocaine) by burning it and inhaling the fumes

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

base; free-base

Hypernyms (to "base" is one way to...):

do drugs; drug (use recreational drugs)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

base (the principal ingredient of a mixture)

base (any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water)

 Context examples 

Doctors diagnose it based on a physical exam and your symptoms.

(Meniere's Disease, NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

Through a combination of satellite measurements and ground-based population counts, researchers can forecast the timing of fawning seasons based on vegetation.

(Tracking Deer by NASA Satellite, NASA)

Based on photographs of RMS Titanic at the shipyard that built it in Belfast, Ireland, he suggested fire by spotting large black streaks in the region struck by the iceberg.

(UK documentary claims fire weakened RMS Titanic, Wikinews)

Mars will work with Pluto, which, as said, is based in your magical ninth house (and will remain there until March 2023).

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A potent, selective and orally bioavailable, cyanopyrrolidine-based inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4), with hypoglycemic activity.

(Melogliptin, NCI Thesaurus)

A point mutation involving the substitution of Guanosine (a purine base) for Adenosine (a purine base) in a DNA sequence from eukaryotic or prokaryotic organisms.

(Adenosine to Guanosine Transition Abnormality, NCI Thesaurus)

Based on these findings, researchers have started to look into the specific gene variants involved.

(Can't Sleep? Could Be Down to Genetics, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

An international team led by Dr. Shaochen Chen at the University of California, San Diego, set out to develop a nanoparticle-based detoxification device that wouldn’t be hazardous to patients.

(3-D gel-nanoparticle device detoxifies blood, NIH)

A number of major cellphone companies, including U.S-based AT&T and German rival T-Mobile, unilaterally announced a halt to sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 on Sunday.

(Samsung Ends Production of Problem-Plagued Galaxy Note 7, Voanews)

Although the exact mechanism remains to be elucidated, mefloquine, a weak base, preferentially accumulates in lysosomes and disrupts lysosomal function and integrity, thereby leading to host cell death.

(Mefloquine, NCI Thesaurus)